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"If enough people make false promises, words will stop having any meaning."
-Jon Snow, Game of Thrones.
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Chapter 13 | The Koala pact.
I woke up to a text from Eames.
Cheshire cat: Meet me at the coffee shop on Argyle.
So now he wants to talk.
Archer.H: I can't today.
Will tomorrow work?
I get up from my bed, bath and change into my clothes for the day: a horizontally striped long sleeved shirt, sky blue ripped jeans and white adidas sneakers.
It took me a while but I finally find my box of hair ties. Moron named Hunter never gave mine back.
I pick up my phone to turn it off as I make my way downstairs. Eames' response postpones my switching off of the phone.
Cheshire cat: I thought you only went MIA in the morning times.
Either way, I will be at the coffee shop til 1500 hrs.
🐨
Koala.
The Koala pact.
In the few months that I'd been there, I'd thrown my own rules out the window having thought we'd be here for a while. 11 months. We'd been there for 11 months and it seemed safe to finally exit my shell because the longest we'd been in one place was 8 months.
I remember Mimosa persistently burrowing himself in my life. We'd meet at school and at training. He made a point of talking to me.
Eventually, I let him in and the pact had been made in an attempt to not withhold information from one another. No matter how bad it was. In situations where I thought he'd judge me, he'd say Koala. I'd spill my guts without the fear of his reaction.
My phone shut down as I made it to the stairs landing.
"You ready, honey?"
"Yeah Mom, I'm ready."
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Walking into The Bean café, I scan the faces of the occupants of this little slice of heaven. I notice the group seated at the corner booth on some sort of double date.
Smiling to myself, I imagine my Bananas and I on a triple date.
You need to have a boyfriend for that to happen, Archer. Or at least someone who likes you. I scoff. Guess I'll just keep daydreaming about it.
My gaze finally lands on Eames, who seems to have been watching me since the moment I walked in. That little bell be damned!
"I was beginning to think you'd never show up," is his greeting statement.
"My need to fill in the blanks wouldn't let me," I quip, taking a seat across from him.
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"It's a damn good thing I'm not a cat," I smirk at him, eagerly waiting for his response. I've already thought of lots of replies to anything he could say. He's the cat.
His chestnut orbs sparkle with joy and another emotion that I can't pin point as he takes me in.
"You look amazing," he decides to say instead of a come back, flooring me completely but it was a smart move.
"Thank you." I've been getting loads of compliments recently. It's not hard to say that they all have been coming from two fit baseball players.
"Would you like anything?," he gestures to the menu before him.
"Cappuccino, please."
He flags down the barista, who makes her way over to us and quickly jots down our orders with Eames asking for a refill.
"To start it off, I...,"
"Straight into it I see. I thought you'd at least wait til our orders arrived," I cut him off.
"Beating around the bush solves nothing, it just wastes time," he replies without a hitch.
"Still articulate." I verbalize my observation.
"Old habits die hard, especially those you never tried to kill." It was his turn to smirk at me in expectance of my come back.
"Go on, Mim... Eam...." I groan in frustration. "I can't even decide on what to call you anymore."
"I'd prefer it if you called me Eames. It's what you've called me since I started hanging out with you and your friends. I quite like it and it'll make my life easier," he informs. I nod my understanding just as the barista makes her way back to our table with our beverages.
"Start explaining," I order him before lightly blowing on my coffee.
"I don't want to lie to you; so don't make me. I'm going to tell you as much as I am permitted to. Nothing more, nothing less."
I nod in understanding. I prefer it that way. Honesty.
Apparently, after I left the very first place I called home for 3 years of my life, Eames had stayed -obviously, where would he go- and trained as hard as a new recruit. Probably harder. He definitely has the dedication.
By time he was 17, he'd achieved NAVY SEAL level. It's impressive.
Him being here was his very first placement for a 'mission' he was on. I deducted that he was undercover and he could neither confirm nor deny my deductions.
He did say he wasn't going to lie to me.
Our conversation consisted of a lot of things that he couldn't tell me about but in the grand scheme of things, I was extremely grateful to know some information.
"So, why didn't you come to me as soon as you knew who I was," I take a sip of my cappuccino.
"I couldn't," he supplies cooly.
"Why not?"
He shakes his head indicating he couldn't answer my question. It's a simple enough question yet I somehow I understand him. We'd all been through it whenever it involved my Dad's work. I think Eames knows that too.
"How long are you here then?"
"I don't know. It depends on a lot of factors that I have no control over." A line I've heard before more times than I can count. I nod.
"You're doing big things already," I praise him making mock jazz hands.
He chuckles at me. "I just happened to fit." He isn't going to explain further than that cryptic sentence.
Even though we were older and we weren't running drills together, it felt like we had gotten our old stride back. Mimosa and Gumball were back.
"Remember when Cornstalk and Chief dared you to run the junior seals drill twice without stopping." Everyone had a Wolverine name. Everyone.
"Yeah. I definitely put them in their place. Girls are not inferior to boys in any sense. In fact, I think girls are stronger."
"Woah, Archer, put some brakes on that train. We both know you could only do that because you were running seniour seals track by then." He still remembered.
"They didn't know that."
By the time Mom starts calling, I've had 2 cappuccinos and my questions have been answered. At least the ones that could be answered.
"Have we really been talking for 4 hours?," I ask, genuinely in shock as my phone proudly shows 17:00.
"It seems we have. On that note, we should really get going."
Til this very moment, I didn't even know Eames drove. An extremely nice car to make matters worse. Nothing close to a Bugatti but it was better than me; I ride the bus. Well, I haven't in a while.
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The whole me tackling Eames story was famous throughout the school halls. Only Mason, Brie, Eames, Dré and Hunter knew the real reason as to why I had tackled Eames. I should really think of a shorter way to refer to all of us.
The rest of the school population was basically running on rumours. Dré and Brie found them utterly amusing whilst I found them annoying. They couldn't be further from the truth.
Eames' favourite rumour was that Dré and I were fighting over him. He had to heroically intervene. During his brave interference, I had become physical. Really? Very far from the truth.
By Thursday, the stares and gossip that revolved around me was starting to piss me off. Do high school students not have their own lives to obsess over.
I take an exaggerated breath as I walk into my homeroom for my free period.
Taking a moment to gather my thoughts before everyone shows up. That name needs to be thought of ASAP.
I'm going to cut somebody if they look at me sideways one more time. These people need something new to talk about.
A loud roar jolts me from my calm tranquillity. A crowd had formed in the halls.
Out of curiosity, I get up to see what all the commotion was for.
I push my way towards the front of the crowd, having been too short to see over the people's heads.
When I finally get to the front, I immediately am caught off guard.
Apparently, all the commotion was for 2 very shirtless guys, holding baseball bats, fencing in the halls and heads covered with batsman helmets. Eames and Hunter.
I scan the crowd for Brie. She's standing next to Dré who's snapping picture after picture of the scene in front of them. She, alongside her sister, is taking a video of the scene. That's why they're my friends. This is something I want to watch again.
When they finish, they bow then continue to start posing for pictures as they had been instructed.
I stifle laughs.
"Alright funs over. Get to your classes." Mr. Murray's voice booms throughout the halls.
The crowd scattered in mere seconds.
Dré walks over to me with a grin on her face.
"That was epic." I nod in agreement.
The rest of the crew joins us as we make our way back to our home room including the still shirtless, helmet wearing, bat holding duo.
"What was that all about?," I ask both of them as I retake my seat.
"Your saving grace," Eames supplies.
"You need to explain a little further for me to get that."
"You were a few wrong looks from being expelled for killing someone," he announces smugly. It's true.
"It's cute how you think I'll only be expelled. Maximum security prison is what I'll probably get."
His eyes widen then he throws his head back in laughter.
It made sense. The 2 had made quite the scene that I didn't want to end. Evidently, the rest of the student body hadn't wanted it to end too. This means 'Archer tackling Eames story is now history' and 'Baseball superstars shirtless' is the present. Something new to gossip about.
I don't have to kill anyone.
Dré stops an unsuspecting freshman. "Could you take a picture of us?," she asks handing the freshman her camera. She rounds us all up together for the picture.
I smile at the camera until I hear the loud shutter.
"So..., tripple A, my house tonight?," Mason inquires.
"Don't call us that!" Dré, Brie and I chorus to the utter amusement of Mason.
"I love it when you guys do that," he chuckles.
"To answer your question, no," Dré says. "It's a school night." Mason groans.
"You guys are such buzz kills," he announces, slinging his arm on Brie's shoulders. "If we can't do my house, then who's up for food after school."
Now this is my territory.
"I'm up for some food," I voice my thoughts.
"Mason's my ride and if he's in then I'm in by default," Brie says, nibbling on a green skittle. I'm in the same situation.
I look up at Hunter in question.
He leans towards me. Once he is close to my ear, he whispers, "It's Thursday, Bow. I gotta watch Forest."
He focuses on playing colour switch on his phone again. I lean up to his ear.
"She could hang out with us at the food place," I suggest.
He wastes no time in shaking his head no without moving his focus from his phone screen.
"Won't you 2 love birds share the secret," Dré speculates without even looking up.
"No thanks." Hunter shuts her down.
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Getting some time alone outside the house has become increasingly hard over the past few weeks.
It's either I'm at the field completing homework with the twins, I'm tutoring or guiding 2 very intelligent boys through a book, I'm practicing my own sport, actively trying not to be confronted by an easily annoyed girl or supporting a sport. I blame all of these things on a car.
Today, however, I manage to get to the library after such a long hiatus from it. At my entrance, the librarian enthusiastically greets me with solidifying that I haven't been around for a while, accompanied by a spoiler of my yet to be finished book. Cedric dies.
I hide my anger at the spoiler, make my way to my spot at the very back of the library, behind a uncommonly visited row of books. Isolation at it's best. From my spot, I can see most of the room through the gaps between books.
I sit with my back facing the wall so I could study.
It's good to be back.
The hour of free period flies by with me getting Mr. Tuckers Monday blast of assignments half done. Challenging his students was his hobby. At the pace we worked, he guarantees that if anyone of us took up Biology in our tertiary education, we'd be revising most of the semester. I loved him for that.
The shrill shriek of the siren puts my working to a halt plus the uncoordinated chorus that was singing in my tummy had me packing up and heading towards the cafeteria.
Without having sat down for 5 minutes, I feel something hurling towards me. That makes no sense. My instincts must be off. Who would throw something at me in the cafeteria?
Crack. I can hear the kinetic energy of the hairs crackling. It's a tennis ball. I scrunch my eyebrows together in confusion.
My reflexes kick in, I raise my hand without looking up from my phone, successfully catching a fuzzy fresh neon yellow tennis ball. What the actual fxck!
I finally move my attention from my phone to my other hand in shock. Who threw that at me?
I look around the room in hopes to catch the culprit who aimed the ball at me. My scan comes back inconclusive. No one seems to have thrown it.
I notice the ajar doors that lead out of the cafeteria. Could've been a hit and run.
"I bring pizza!," Hunter proclaims, taking a seat beside me.
I'm distracted. Food.
I hand him the ball, dig into one of the slices Hunter presented in front of me.
"So I've already got an idea of what we're going to be doing this Saturday," he starts, eyes shining with excitement.
"You assume we are going on a second adventure," I raise my eyebrows at him in question.
"I am and we are. The where is the only question." His confidence radiating off of him.
With an aura like that, you could get me to do anything.
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SJ talking
Probably the shortest and worst chapter I've ever written but there's seeds I needed to plant so it's for the greater good.
I'll edit it when I get the time but for now, this'll have to do.
Enjoy. Comment. Vote.
Encote!
xoxo SJ signing off